Monthly Archives: August 2009

Focusing on the Positives

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The following is from an NIE guide titled “Positive Thinking” written by Ginny Swinson with educational consultation by Nancy Gilligan and produced by KRP, Inc.  I will be featuring activities from the guide on this blog throughout the year. 

Having a positive attitude is important. It’s important not only when it comes to how you view yourself but also when it comes to viewing life in general. Admittedly, thinking in a positive way is not always easy — especially as you deal with life’s ups and downs. But it is possible! Once you start to recognize the positive things that already exist in your life and learn how to see them even in the face of adversity, positive thinking can become YOUR mode of thinking.

FOCUSING ON THE POSITIVE

ACTIVITY:  Find five “positives” in your newspaper — words and/or actions that personally affect you in a positive way. Briefly describe each example and why you chose it.               

Now, identify a “negative” reported in your newspaper. Find something positive about the situation. 

People with positive attitudes believe they have within themselves the ability to overcome many obstacles. No matter what life hands them, their ability to think positively gets them through even the most difficult situations. "Attitudes are more important than facts," according to famed psychiatrist Dr. Karl Menninger. If you have a defeatist attitude, then you believe you’re a failure whether you really are one or not.

ACTIVITY: Think of a situation that has you worried. Write a sentence describing that situation. Then make a list NOT of the factors that are against you but the factors that are for you. It may surprise you how many positive things you really have going for you.

Now, try this same exercise with a situation covered in your newspaper. Identify a person who is struggling with a crisis or problem. Make a list of the factors or attitudes that might help this person get through the situation successfully.

Are you generous with your positive thoughts? Do you share them with others in the form of compliments and praise? You might be surprised to discover that, like most people, you’re a little stingy when it comes to sharing a nice thought about someone else. It’s one thing to THINK something positive about another person and quite another to actually tell him or her. Sharing kind words and statements with others is an important step in learning to focus on the positives in life. When we learn to see the good in other people, we learn to see the good in ourselves (and vice versa!).

ACTIVITY: See what a difference it makes when you turn your positive thoughts into positive words.  Make one honest compliment to three different people every day for two weeks. Throughout that time, keep a journal. How did it make you feel? What reactions did you get from other people? Was it easy or difficult? How did it affect your relationship with your peers? What conclusions can you draw about the power of positive thinking — and speaking?

Now, try something a little different: giving a compliment to someone you don’t like. Pick a comic strip character, a television or movie character, or a “real” person featured in your newspaper who you just don’t care for. Think of three honest compliments you could give this person or character if you had the opportunity. Write them down on a piece of paper.

ACTIVITY – MATH SCAVENGER HUNT

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Here is a math scavenger hunt you can use with the newspaper. Activities are from the guide "By the Numbers: Mathematical Connections in Newspapers for Middle-Grade Students"  produced by the Newspaper Association of America Foundation.

See if you can find each of these math related items in the newspaper. Write down what you found and the page on which you found it.

1.  A fraction

2.  A money amount less than $1.00

3.  A date other than today’s

4.  A five-digit number

5.  A decimal that is not an amount of money

6.  A store giving a discount of 20 percent or more

7.  An ad larger than half of the newspaper page

8.  A temperature higher than 40 degrees

9.  A number written as a word (“one”)

10. An odd number greater than 100

11. An even number less than 100

ACTIVITY – Functions of a Newspaper

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Here is an activity from Featuring the Frameworks:  Linking Language Arts to Your Newspaper, written by Dr. Darla Shaw and produced by The Washington Times.

1. TO INFORM. Newspapers provide facts that readers must have in order to be informed citizens and to make decisions. Find an example of a newspaper story that informs readers. Write down its headline.

2. TO INTERPRET THE NEWS. Newspaper stories interpret or explain the meaning of news to us. These stories often have opinions of the writer. Find an example of a newspaper article that interprets the news. Write down its headline.

3. TO PROVIDE A SERVICE TO READERS. Newspapers provide information that helps readers solve their business, home, recreation, and daily living problems. Advertising assists in informing readers about products and services.  Find an example of a story that provides a service to the reader. Write down the headline.  Find an advertisement that informs readers. What is the product or service offered?

4. TO ENTERTAIN. Some sections of the are designed to amuse or give enjoyment to readers. Find a puzzle or game in the newspaper. Write down its name.  

Of the four basic functions of a newspaper, which do you think it the most important and why?

Homework Tips for Parents

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Here are some general homework tips for parents from the booklet "Homework Tips for Parents" published by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Intergovernmental and Interagency Affairs, Educational Partnerships and Family Involvement Unit,Washington, D.C., 2003.  Teachers feel free to share with parents of your students.

GENERAL HOMEWORK TIPS FOR PARENTS

1. Make sure your child has a quiet, well-lit place to do homework. Avoid having your child do homework with the television on or in places with other distractions, such as people coming and going.

2. Make sure the materials your child needs, such as paper, pencils and a dictionary, are available. Ask your child if special materials will be needed for some projects and get them in advance.

3. Help your child with time management. Establish a set time each day for doing homework. Don‘t let your child leave homework until just before bedtime. Think about using a weekend morning or afternoon for working on big projects, especially if the project involves getting together with classmates.

4. Be positive about homework.Tell your child how important school is. The attitude you express about homework will be the attitude your child acquires.

5. When your child does homework, you do homework. Show your child that the skills they are learning are related to things you do as an adult. If your child is reading, you read too. If your child is doing math, balance your checkbook.

6. When your child asks for help, provide guidance, not answers. Giving answers means your child will not learn the material. Too much help teaches your child that when the going gets rough, someone will do the work for him or her.

7. When the teacher asks that you play a role in homework, do it. Cooperate with the teacher. It shows your child that the school and home are a team. Follow the directions given by the teacher.

8. If homework is meant to be done by your child alone, stay away. Too much parent involvement can prevent homework from having some positive effects. Homework is a great way for kids to develop independent, lifelong learning skills.

9. Stay informed. Talk with your child‘s teacher. Make sure you know the purpose of homework and what your child‘s class rules are.

10. Help your child figure out what is hard homework and what is easy homework.   Have your child do the hard work first. This will mean he will be most alert when facing the biggest challenges. Easy material will seem to go fast when fatigue begins to set in.

11. Watch your child for signs of failure and frustration. Let your child take a short break if she is having trouble keeping her mind on an assignment.

12. Reward progress in homework. If your child has been successful in homework completion and is working hard, celebrate that success with a special event (e.g., pizza, a walk, a trip to the park) to reinforce the positive effort.

To download the full 10-page booklet, click on this link  legacy.grandforksherald.com/pdfs/homeworktips[1].pdf

NEWSPAPER HANGMAN GAME

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Try this Newspaper Hangman Game, produced Diane Goold, NIE Director at St. Joseph  News-Press, St. Joseph, MO.

Goal: 2 – Acquire knowledge and skills to communicate effectively.                                   Standard: CA 1 – Speaking & writing Standard English.  

This activity will help students build vocabulary, scan for challenging words & view the newspaper as a source for both standard and challenging words and information.

1. Divide students into two teams. Have each team look through the newspaper to find words for the other team to solve. Determine the number of words to be found and solved prior to the beginning of the game.

2. Set up the hangman game on the board, including the gallows and spaces for each letter of the word they are guessing.

3. The team that is giving the clues will give some information to help identify where in the paper the word is found and some clues to help find the word. Examples:  •The word can be found in the comic strips and has something to with people eating.• The word can be found on the front page and has something to do with a foreign country.

4. The team giving the clues must also provide the definition of the word, if it is an unfamiliar word to most of the students. The teacher can allow for other rules and hints as needed.

5. Allow a set amount of time for solving the puzzle. Rotate words and teams for as long as the game time allows. The team with the greatest amount of solved words wins.

6. List all the vocabulary words chosen as clues and use them in a variety of ways i.e. spelling word lists, writing sentences using the words, alphabetizing, story writing, etc.

Their Character Counts

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There are two great examples in Thursday’s Grand Forks Herald of teens showing good character. 

The first is titled "Teens honored for returning $1,500 in found cash" by Archie Ingersoll Herald Staff Writer .  Thirteen-year-old Good Samaritans Leanne Ness and Teaerica Rangel were recognized by Grand Forks police for turning in stolen money and other property they found by the Red River.  Read the full story on the front page of Thursday’s Herald or by clicking here www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/130628/

The second is titled "Ali’s Boundless Playground opens" by Ryan Johnson Herald Staff Writer. Wednesday’s grand opening celebrates three years of hard work by 15-year-old Grand Forks girl.  Read the full story in section B of Thursday’s Herald or by clicking here www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/130625/ 

Kudos to these teens for a job well done!

 

NEWSPAPER SCAVENGER HUNT    Here is a portion of a newspaper scavenger hunt from the NIE tab "Count on Character" by KRP.  See how many examples of the following you can find in the newspaper.

1. An act of kindness shown by a business.                                                           

2. A comic strip character who demonstrates kindness.

3. An item in the classified section you would buy only if you trusted the seller.

4. A news story explaining how a lack of respect led to a bad incident.

5. A letter to an advice columnist or a news story that describes an irresponsible person.

6. A photo of a person people rely on for making decisions.

7. An example of a business trying to be fair to its customers.

Talkin’ Trash

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In Tuesday’s Grand Forks Herald there was a story on the front page titled, "Trash Transport"  by Ryan Johnson, Herald Staff Writer.  The story was about how the city of Grand Forks has started to transport its trash to Fargo.  The current landfill in Grand Forks can no longer be used and the new one won’t be ready until sometime in mid September. You can go to Tuesday’s Grand Forks Herald or GrandForksHerald.com to read the full article or click on this link  www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/130382/

This story reminded me of an NIE supplement we have titled "Talkin’ Trash" from KRP. Here is an interesting article and some graphics from the supplement on how a landfill works.  I have also included some newspaper activities at the end. 

 

Once a garbage truck is full of trash, it heads to the sanitary landfill to dump its load, then heads back out to the neighborhoods to pick up more.

To flatten and crush the many loads of garbage, a compactor — a large bulldozer with giant spikes on its wheels — is driven back and forth over it. Trucks then level it out and pack it down.

A layer of dirt is spread over the newly flattened garbage by machines called graders. The trash is covered with dirt as soon as possible to help keep odors down, stop the spread of bacteria, and discourage scavengers such as sea gulls, rats, and insects.

As rainwater passes through the layers of trash, it becomes polluted with household hazardous waste like bug sprays, paints, household cleaners, and car oil. This polluted water is called leachate. Before sanitary landfills were built, leachate would collect underneath the many layers of garbage and slowly leak out into the ground, eventually making it into water supplies. Modern landfills are lined with layers of gravel, clay, and plastic to keep that from happening. Leachate is now collected and piped into treatment facilities.

Rotting organic garbage produces a gas called methane, which is the primary ingredient in the kind of gas that is used for creating electricity or for heating and cooking in homes. In landfills, where huge masses of garbage are decomposing in an enclosed area, there is a danger of methane fires or even explosions. Sanitary landfills are equipped with pipes that bring the methane to the surface, then into treatment plants where it can be turned into electricity and sold.

What happens when a landfill is full? It is capped, or closed off, with a layer of clay followed by a 6-foot layer of earth. Capped landfills are then “reclaimed.” Some have become parks, others parking lots, and still others have served as the foundations to airports.

ACTIVITIES

1. Make a list of all the disposable products you can think of and what they are used for. Look through the ads in your newspaper for more ideas. Next to each item, write down what people used before the disposable product was invented. Are these “non-disposable” products still available? Who uses them and why?

2. Your paper’s classified ads are a treasure trove of re-usable items. Look through the items for sale and make a list of the categories of items that are being sold. Choose an item you would like to buy, then decide whether you would be buying it for a primary re-use or a secondary re-use.

3. Using the ads in your paper’s classified section as guides, write your own classified ads for three things around your house that you could sell for primary re-use rather than throw away. Now, take the same items and write an ad to sell the item for a secondary re-use.

Thanks NIE Teachers’ Fair

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THANKS to everyone who attended the NIE Teachers’ Resource Fair held last Monday in the Herald community room.  We had a great turnout and I look forward to working with you in the upcoming school year!

CONGRATULATIONS to Pete Ringbloom!!! He was the winner of the 2 men’s UND suite hockey tickets for the Oct. 4 game against Manitoba. Pete teaches at Lewis and Clark School in Grand Forks.

If you have any ideas of what you would like to see on this NIE blog, please let me know. You can leave a comment here or send me an email:  slindlauf@gfherald.com 

Literacy Scavenger Hunt

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This article is from a 2004 Literacy tab and was written by Jane Mencer, NCFL Instructional Designer. The tab was produced by the Newspaper Association of America and sponsored by VerizonReads.com.

People read the newspaper for many reasons, but one constant is that they want to
know something. Some might consider reading the newspaper an adult activity, but nothing could be further from the truth. Reading newspapers, children can strengthen literacy skills and have fun at the same time. So gather your family for a literacy scavenger hunt!
 

TAKE A TRIP                                                                                                               Ask your family to imagine taking a trip outside the United States. Have each person select a city, then find the page in the newspaper that lists predicted temperatures in those cities. Discuss whether it’s hot, cold or mild. You might make a short list of the kinds of clothes you’d want to pack if you were to visit that city today. If the newspaper shows a world
map, use that to locate the cities, or use a globe if you have one.                           Location Clue: Weather section
                                                                                                                                    MAKE AN EDUCATED GUESS
Did you listen to news or watch it on television recently? If so, predict what you think the number one story in today’s newspaper will be. Don’t be hard on yourself if you are not able to predict accurately—that’s why it’s called news! You can’t always predict the main story because something new and significant may have happened late yesterday. Keep track of your predictions for one week. Which family member gets the most right?                          Location clue: Front page, “above the fold,” largest headline
                                                                                                                                    YARD SALE SATURDAYS
Do you enjoy poking through yard sales? Where would you look in the newspaper to find out where this weekend’s yard sales will be held? Select a few items that your family might like to find at a yard sale. Look through the listings to find them. This activity helps children recognize words in print and also to identify related words. For example, if you’re looking for a bicycle, the ads might list “bike” or “sports equipment.”                                      Location clue: Classified ad section
                                                                                                                                      LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION
Do you enjoy going to the movies? What’s playing today? What do the rating letters mean? If your local paper reviews new DVDs, talk about renting one that the whole family might enjoy.                                                                                                                 Location clue:  Entertainment section
                                                                                                                                  PLAY BALL! – OR ANY OTHER GAME
Does your family have a favorite sport that you enjoy watching together? Go to the section of the paper where you find the results of sporting events. Scan the headlines and identify the verbs—they’re often very powerful (slammed, survived, crushed, etc.) or catchy (Orioles Deal Cards 3-2 Loss).                                                                                     Location clue: Sports section
                                                                                                                                                                                          SMILE
In the mood to chuckle? What section is most likely to offer amusement? Select a cartoon. Discuss it with your child and ask him to tell you what he thinks is happening. Then read the dialogue or captions out loud. If it’s a cartoon you both enjoy, cut it out of the newspaper and hang it on your refrigerator.                                                                             Location clue: Comics section
                                                                                                                                    HUNGRY?
It’s time to do some grocery shopping. Ask your child to help you make a list of items to buy, then locate the section of the paper that tells what’s on sale. Maybe you’d rather go out to eat. Are there restaurants advertising in today’s paper?                                   Location clue: Often grocery stores will advertise in a special insert or flyer just for that purpose, while others may advertise in the newspaper itself.  The local grocery inserts are included in the Sunday Grand Forks Herald.
                                                                                                                                  THE 5 W’S
Who, what, when, where, why? News articles usually begin with a paragraph that answers all of these questions, commonly called the “5 W’s.” Find a news article and see if all five questions are answered in the first paragraph.                                                         Location clue: World news, front page, local news.

CURRENT EVENTS ACTIVITY

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Here is a current events activity you can do using the newspaper.  The activity is from "Your Newspaper,Your Town Hall"  Provided by NCPF, NIE for National Newspaper Week, 2005. Written and compiled by Sandra Cook, Ed.D., N.C. Press Foundation, Newspapers in Education with contributions from Mary Miller, New York.

YOUR NEWSPAPER,YOUR TOWN HALL
READERS’ OPINIONS
Citizens speak out through their newspapers. Locate the Letters to the Editor in your
newspaper.
How many letters do you find?

Who wrote the letters?

What are the topics?

Choose a letter that you think is very convincing. What makes this letter effective?

FOLLOW-UP: Write a letter to the editor about a concern you have.

Here’s how to get a Letter to the Editor at the Grand Forks Herald:

EMAIL:  letters@gfherald.com

WRITE:  Letters to the Editor, Grand Forks Herald, Box 6008, Grand Forks, ND 58206-6008

CALL:  Opinion Editor Tom Dennis at (701)780-1276 or (800)477-6572, ext. 276

FAX:  (701)795-4604

You must leave your name, address and a daytime phone number for verification.  Letters with fewer than 250 words are preferred.  We correct spelling and grammar, and we edit letters as needed for length.